• Paul Sweeney, Solution Architect at Engine by Starling, Richard Kalas, Client Solutions Director, Retail Banking at GFT


• 01.07.2024 10:08 am

Financial IT caught up with Paul Sweeney, Solution Architect, Engine by Starling and

Richard Kalas, Client Solutions Director, Retail Banking, GFT at Money20/20 Europe to discuss how they are modernising banking technology.

Nodira Sadikova, Financial IT: Financial IT is thrilled to have two distinguished guests with us: Paul Sweeney, Solution Architect at Engine by Starling, and Richard Kalas, Client Solutions Director for Retail Banking at GFT. We are here to discuss developments in the financial technology space, particularly focusing on the modernisation of banking technology and the launch of the new neobank, Salt Bank. Let's begin with introductions from our guests.

Richard Kalas: I’m Client Solutions Director for GFT in the retail banking portfolio. GFT is a platform solutions and cloud engineering organisation, primarily focused on financial services, but we also work in automotive and industry. GFT has 12,000 colleagues globally, operating in 20+ geographies, with a specialisation in new digital banks, core modernisation, data, and artificial intelligence.

Paul Sweeney: I’m a Solution Architect with Engine by Starling. I’ve been with Engine since its inception two years ago as part of Starling Bank. For those unfamiliar with Starling Bank, it is a leading digital bank in the UK, founded in 2014 and launched in 2017. We currently serve over 4 million customers and hold about 10% of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market in the UK. Two years ago, we took the technology platform underpinning Starling Bank and made it available as a managed service globally, working with partners like GFT to deliver this to new financial institutions and existing banks around the world.

Nodira Sadikova, Financial IT: Banks are increasingly seeking to modernise their technology. What do you see as the main opportunities and drivers for this?

Richard Kalas: There are several drivers behind core modernisation. Legacy systems and the challenge of finding talent to support these systems are significant issues. Cost drivers and efficiency savings are also critical. We’ve seen a massive move to cloud platforms over the last decade, but that journey isn’t finished yet. Banks are now turning to their internal core systems to leverage modern, cloud-native platforms like Engine by Starling, which can bring their modern cloud-based managed solution into the business to reduce costs and rapidly improve time-to-market.

Paul Sweeney: I completely agree with Richard. The cost and risk factors are huge for any institution. Additionally, customer expectations have changed dramatically over the last 5 to 10 years. Customers now expect a fully-featured, self-service digital app and service levels comparable to those of digital giants like Amazon and Netflix. Legacy systems simply can’t meet these expectations due to their lack of agility. Platforms such as Engine by Starling provide the perfect foundation to build on and meet these new standards.

Nodira Sadikova, Financial IT: Building a new bank is a complex process. Engine by Starling and GFT recently launched Salt Bank. How does Salt Bank differentiate itself from other banks?

Richard Kalas: Salt Bank is a fascinating case study. Engine approached us in late 2022 with an ambitious proposition to stand up their first customer, a new bank in Romania, within six months for regulatory approval and twelve months for a customer launch. We joined forces and also worked closely with the Salt Bank team, adopting a collaborative approach to drive out the scope of what was initially an MVP (minimum viable product), but quickly this expanded into a maximum value product. This full-featured digital bank was designed to offer equivalent features and functions to what the target customer base in Romania was already experiencing. 

Paul Sweeney: When we first discussed the project, the timelines seemed extremely ambitious, especially compared to the build of a traditional legacy bank. GFT was the ideal systems integration partner for this, and together with Salt Bank’s diligence and enthusiasm, we managed to launch the bank within the stipulated 12 months. It now has over 200,000 active customers, an impressive feat. Salt Bank’s offering is tailored specifically for the Romanian market, which has contributed to its significant uptake.

Richard Kalas: Indeed. The leadership from all three partner organisations—Engine by Starling, GFT, and Salt Bank was crucial. Leaders like Sam Everington from Engine and Gabi Nistor from Salt fostered a culture of unity that drove the project’s success. This collaborative effort ensured that we could come together as one team and exceed the ambitious targets set for Salt Bank.

Nodira Sadikova, Financial IT: Can you elaborate on the roles Engine by Starling and GFT played in the development and launch of Salt Bank and how your collaboration enhanced the bank's capabilities?

Richard Kalas: Engine by Starling provided a fully-featured platform, but there were specific features for the Romanian market that required localisation, such as domestic payments and regulatory reporting. We were also able to leverage existing partnerships, such as with CurrencyCloud, to offer multi-currency accounts from day one. This extended the bank’s capabilities significantly.

Paul Sweeney: From our side, Engine provided the core platform with its comprehensive set of capabilities. GFT handled the integration and development of the new mobile app, ensuring Salt Bank retained ownership of this crucial customer interface. The core platform gave Salt Bank everything they needed to run the bank, but also a set of additional capabilities.

Richard Kalas: The management portal of Engine by Starling is often overlooked, but is a very powerful tool; a full end-to-end tool that not only powers the bank, but provides a true 360-degree view of the customer and business processes from day one, greatly accelerating the programme.

Nodira Sadikova, Financial IT: Looking ahead, how do you envision the partnership between Engine by Starling and GFT evolving over the next few years?

Paul Sweeney: From Engine's perspective, we see a continued and expanded partnership with GFT. We’ve had a hugely successful relationship thus far, and we anticipate working closely on numerous future deployments. GFT would certainly be at the top of our list for recommendations to clients.

Richard Kalas: At GFT, we view our partnership with Engine as key. The success of Salt Bank is a testament to our close working relationship and effective collaboration. Launching a bank within 12 months and achieving such impressive customer uptake is remarkable. We’re proud of the engineering excellence on both sides, and we look forward to many more successful projects together.

Nodira Sadikova, Financial IT: This collaboration between fintech and traditional institutions is truly impressive, achieving remarkable results like 200,000 active users within the first two months. Thank you both for sharing your insights.